


And He saw that it was good

by Bluethenstaub



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Peter remembers and he doesn't like the new universe, except it's not gender changes but sex changes, what if the infinity stone in the orb was not the power stone but the reality stone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2018-11-06 09:57:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11033835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluethenstaub/pseuds/Bluethenstaub
Summary: Ronan got the Orb and thus the Infinity Stone. Since it's the Reality Stone, Ronan uses it to create a universe without Xandar and Thanos.There's only one problem: Peter Quill remembers the old universe and he's desperate to get it back.





	1. Change

“The orb is in my possession, as I promised.”

“Bring it to me,” Thanos face on the wall demanded.

“Yes… that was our agreement. Bring you the Orb and you will destroy Xandar for me,” Ronan said as he walked over to Korath. He gave him his Universal Weapon and took the Orb in return. “However, now that I know it contains an Infinity Stone I wonder what use I have for you.”  
“Boy, I would reconsider your current course!”

He ripped the Orb open. Inside was a glowing stone of a rich red, but Ronan could swear that he could see the stone move. He didn't care, all he cared about was the power to destroy Xandar and Thanos.

“Master, you cannot!” Korath threw in. Oh, he could. And he would. “Thanos is the most powerful being in the universe!”

“Not anymore,” he growled and grabbed the stone. He had expected it to hurt, but it didn't. The stone liquefied itself and was gone. But somehow he knew what had happened. The stone was inside of him now and he had the power to change reality. He knew how to do it. “You will never call me boy again!” Ronan shouted, closed his eyes and concentrated.

Everything went white.

 

* * *

  
“Welcome home, Peter.”

Peter was lying on top of Gamora who he had just saved from dying as he looked to Kraglin and a bunch of Ravagers.

Only… he didn't.

He could swear he had been lying on the floor of the airlock, but he wasn't there. There was also no way he had been looking at Kraglin and a bunch of other Ravagers and heard him talk because he was alone in… Yondu’s bed?! He recognized the fur blanket, this was Yondu’s bed! Something was very, very wrong here. Where was Gamora and… oh God, Gamora’s sister had the stone! Ronan would destroy Xandar and the whole universe! He had to find Gamora and try to convince Yondu with her help that they had to save the galaxy!

Peter got out of the bed. He was only wearing shorts. Who the hell had undressed him? He hadn't woken up in Yondu’s bed only in underwear for years. The last time it had happened was when he had passed out on the bridge after he got infected with some nasty space virus when he was 19 years old.

Fortunately, his clothes lay over one of the chairs. There was only one problem: these weren't the clothes he had worn. When he was on Knowhere he hadn't worn red leather pants and a dark gray shirt, he had been wearing a grey-blue shirt and dark pants. This was really weird. Had Yondu decided to try to be funny again? Last time that had happened, Kraglin had almost lost a leg and Tullk’s ship almost exploded.

Since those were the only clothes Peter could find (there was no way he would ever take a look into Yondu’s dressers!) he put them on and left the quarters. He would find Yondu either in the prison cell, interrogating Gamora (or worse!) or on the bridge, waiting for Peter to wake up. Peter decided for the more optimistic approach and went to the bridge.

  
“Yondu, what the hell!”

The Cetaurian was sitting in his chair on the bridge, mindlessly typing something into a screen. Only two Ravagers kept his company. They had to be new, Peter couldn't remember seeing their faces before. Since when did Yondu allow new guys to be on the bridge?

“Ya got drunk and almost puked all over me, and you ask what the hell? I should be the one asking this question. What the hell, boy?” he grinned without looking up.

“I what? I didn't get drunk! Stop lying to me for once! Where's Gamora?”

“I ain't lying to you. I just ain't telling you the whole truth. And I think this Gamora you're talking about exists only in your dreams. If I find any stains in my bed..!”

“You're kidding me right?” Peter grabbed the screen out of Yondu’s hands. He needed his full attention right now. Yondu could plan future jobs later. “Listen, man, I have no idea what kind of game you're playing, but it's not funny.”

Yondu looked at Peter. “I ain't playing any games.”

“You are. I stole the Orb from you and now you want to punish me for that. I get it. But now is not the time for your games. Ronan got the Orb and he's going to use it to wipe out Xandar if we don't stop him. So please, Yondu, tell me where to find Gamora. And we need to return to Knowhere to get Rocket, Drax, and Groot. They can help. Gamora worked with Ronan. She knows everything we need to know about him, his ship and his crew. Rocket’s really good at building bombs and he's not that bad of a pilot. And Groot and Drax are strong. We have to destroy Ronan before it's too late, that's all I'm asking of you. I'm promising I won't keep the Orb for myself this time. Pinky promise. You can have it. Your own Infinity Stone. That's something right? The biggest score in your life.”

Yondu lifted one hand. “Let me stop you right there. I still have no idea what you're talking about. We ain't got no friend of yours on this ship. You don't have friends. We're not close to Knowhere, nor were we ever. I have no idea what Orb you're talking about, but since you stole it from me, I still want it back. I also take that Infinity Stone. And what's Xandar?”


	2. Dad talk

Peter couldn’t believe what he had just heard. What was going on? “What’s Xandar? You’re kidding me, right now, isn’t it? First, you don’t remember the last three days, and now this… Xandar’s a planet. The capital of the Nova Empire, nemesis of the Kree Empire. Does it ring any bells?”

“Never heard of it. The Kree ain’t got no nemesis. No one fucks with the Kree. The only nemesis they ever had were the Skrulls and they’ve all been dead for 2000 years.”

“Ah, come on, Yondu. Stop that. Kraglin’s from Xandar.”

Yondu frowned. “Still doesn’t ring any bell. Ain’t never heard of any Kraglin.”

“You what? Kraglin’s your first mate. He’s a bit taller than you, blue eyes, my skin color, rather skinny. Brown hair, some tattoos on his neck. Smells like an arcade visited by four bachelor parties at the same time. He was there when you’ve abducted me. And it ain’t no secret that you’re fucking him.”

“I got only one first mate and that ain’t any of your imaginary friends, Quill. You’re my first.”

That would explain why Peter had been sleeping in Yondu’s bed. It was common for the first mate to share the bed with the captain, sometimes in a platonic sense of the word, sometimes not.

Peter went pale. What if he was more than just the first mate for him? What if…? “Did we ever have sex?” he blurted out. Before he could prevent it, he already imagined himself and Yondu naked, bodies pressed against each other, moving in unison, Yondu’s-

“Hell, no.”

“Oh, thank God!” Even imagining the whole thing added a new point to Peter’s long list of issues.

“I ain’t doing such a thing with my child.”

“... I’m your child?”

“Yeah, boy, don’t you remember? I officially adopted ya after I told you ‘bout the whole thing with yer jackass of dad. Ya even gave me that ugly doll of yours as a present.”

Yondu had adopted him? His jackass of dad? “... What about my dad?” Suddenly Peter’s leg got very weak and he had to sit down. Yondu knew his dad? He had never told him anything about his father before, at least not that he could remember. Was that the reason why he had abducted him? Were the things his mom told everyone, when she was delirious, true? Was his dad an alien, an angel of pure light?

“Your dad’s the best Ravager in the whole galaxy, that’s about your dad.”

“I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about the other one. The one who sired me.”

“He’s a jackass who got kids all over the galaxy and paid honest pirates like me to bring ‘em to him,” Yondu answered.

Peter gulped. He had siblings? Peter had always dreamed about having siblings and a big family. Was this dream finally coming true? Maybe this whole dream - Peter was convinced that all this could only be a dream - was a better reality. Maybe he should stop worrying about Ronan and the Infinity Stone and should start to live in this dream. He could finally meet his father! He would finally have a home!

“And after Ego got the children, he killed ‘em. Just like he would have killed you if I didn’t save your sorry ass. Good thing that you were so skinny and I had a use for you.”

Just like that Yondu was able to bring up his hopes and crush his dreams in 0.1 seconds. “... Why would he kill his children?”

“Like hell I know. He never told me. Why should he? He’s a jackass. I found out by chance, since it was always so quiet on his frigging planet and not one of the brats would ever come to visit me. Even I didn’t treat ‘em too bad. It’s better I kept you, boy. I raised ya, I bust me a new ass for you. I got dishonored by Stakar for bringing your sibs to Ego and keeping you. I’m the only daddy you need, not some jackass who doesn’t even come to look for you when you get stolen by Ravagers.”

“I… I need a minute.” Peter took a deep breath. This was more parent talk than he had ever received from the Yondu he could remember. His Yondu had always made excuses about everything. Hell, he didn’t even give him the talk, he just shoved him into a brothel on Contraxia and let the Love Bot do their job. This Yondu was, well, he didn’t want to say softer, but he was more open with his feelings. Was this what life was like for Kraglin? Did Yondu tell him everything and more? What else was there to know about Yondu that Peter didn’t know?

If he thought about it, he knew almost nothing about Yondu's past. He had never asked and Yondu never told anything. _Opening up to people is a sign of weakness,_ his Yondu had told him once. Of course, back then Peter had thought Yondu had meant him and his habit to tell everyone more than they wanted to know. It seemed like this phrase had a deeper meaning instead . Apparently, it was an advice Yondu himself took by heart. If you don’t open up your heart, it can’t be broken. Showing feelings is a weakness. Stop being soft in your heart, it will only hurt you.

Maybe Peter had been wrong all along. Maybe Yondu and the Ravagers were his family.

Who needed some unknown man? Sure, Yondu hadn’t been the best dad in the galaxy, far from it, he was abusive in his own ways, but he had always been there for him nonetheless.

Almost like a secret guardian angel he had always looked out for his boy and made sure he survived the difficult life of a Ravager.

Peter started to smile.

“Why’re ya grinning so dumb, boy?”

“Nuthing. I’m just happy.”

Yondu grunted. “Even you forgot half of the shit I told you, yer still the same soft big baby. You’re crying.”

Without noticing it, Peter had started to cry. “‘M not,” he said and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

“Don’t let the others see you like that. ‘S not good for the reputation of my first mate. Let them see it once, they’ll remember, show weakness twice and they’ll lynch ya. It all happened before and it will happen again.”

Peter grinned. “I’m not crying. Never was. It’s hot here, my eyes were sweating,” he replied and gave the screen he had taken before back to Yondu.

“You’re already going, boy? Where?”

He had made a decision. “You should know me better than this, old man. There’s only one answer: I’m going to grab breakfast and then your first mate will do whatever you need him to do.”

Peter would stay and take this new chance. Whatever Ronan had done, maybe he had done the right thing. He had sacrificed Xandar and had made the universe a better place. One day Peter would get over the fact that he had allowed this genocide to happen, he had to. Or at least he wouldn’t feel so bad about it anymore. If Ronan had an Infinity Stone how should Peter reverse the change after all? He was just a normal Terran with no special skills. He didn’t stand a chance, not even against a normal, non-superpowered Kree.


	3. Night Shift

The nights were cold on the Ravagers’ ship. Peter had never noticed this before. Before, when he was on night duty, he had always been with other Ravagers. It was easier to ignore the cold when there was a bunch of hot bodies around you. But not now. It seemed like he has lost most of his friends with the change into the new universe. Either they just stopped existing, like Kraglin, or they weren’t as close to Peter as they once were because he was now Yondu’s first mate, a person of respect.

Friends, huh? More like acquaintances he could talk to, at least in these rare moments when they didn’t try to kill each other. To be honest, Peter thought most of the Ravagers were disgusting. They were dirty, they had no manners, they were drunk most of the time, and they were all dumb as hell. Peter wasn’t one to brag about his education, after all, he had stopped going to school at the age of 8 and had gotten very little education from Yondu, Kraglin or Tullk in the later years. But the Ravagers? They didn’t have common sense, nor did they go to school; they had fought for their lives on the streets before they joined the Ravagers - drunk in most cases. Sometimes they regretted it the next morning, but the only way to leave the Ravagers was with your death.

Peter knew all about this. How often had he tried to leave Yondu behind and live his own life? More times that he could count. Yondu had always found him, no matter how hard he tried, no matter how often he removed the tracker on his ship. Once, he had built it into Horuz’s ship as he was about to go on a mission. Yondu had followed Horuz through the whole quadrant before he realized his mistake. But, in the end, Yondu had always found him.

Most of the time, the boys didn’t regret joining, though. As much as the life of a Ravager sucked, it was still better than living on the streets. Here they got clothes, food, booze, a place to sleep, and money to spend on whores and more booze.

Joining the Ravagers was a certain way for survival, as long as you didn’t get killed on a job. The jobs weren’t that hard, Peter had to admit. He had seen more complicated stuff on TV when he still lived on Terra. As far as he could tell, all you needed were good reflexes, a tongue that could soothe your enemies, and a weapon. And, Peter knew everything there was to know about the Ravagers.

At least about Yondu’s Ravager clan.

As he had learned some days ago when he was talking to Yondu about all the things he had “forgotten,” there were one-hundred Ravager clans. They were just like the mafia and Yondu was the head of one of the clans. He was the Don Corleone of this Ravager clan, but he got kicked out of the Ravager syndicate because he had dealt with kids.

Apparently, Ravagers didn’t deal with children. Nevertheless, Yondu assured Peter he didn’t regret what he had done for one minute. If he hadn’t brought the children to Ego (Ego! What kind of name was that?), someone else would have, and they’d have died nonetheless, even Peter. So, yes, Yondu had lost his family because of Peter, but he got a son out of it.

But, Peter knew Yondu just as well as Yondu knew Peter. They both knew when the other one was lying to their face. Yondu regretted the whole thing. He wanted to get recognized by the other Ravager clans. Peter didn’t know what kind of history they had, but the banishment had broken Yondu’s heart.

He tried to imagine what Yondu was like before his banishment. Was he a proud, young pirate, cocky and full of love for his life? Was this the reason for Yondu’s permanent grumpiness, despite his smiles? Or, was there something more to it? But, Peter knew he would never get an answer to this questions. It wasn’t his place to question Yondu directly. His old man had to talk about it out of his own free will, or else Peter would never get an answer.

There was still cold, leftover soup from dinner on the stove, and Peter had to heat it. The warmer it got, the more it started to glow in a deep pink. He had already spent over 26 years in space and it never stopped fascinating him.

The color reminded him of Gamora’s hair.

Gamora.

What was she doing in this new universe? Was she still the daughter of Thanos? Maybe she was a nun.

There was only one way to find out. Peter grabbed his bowl and a spoon and left the kitchen. He was on his way to the common room. There was always one or two screens for common use lying around.

The closer he came, the louder he could hear the laughter of the night shift. There were ten guys directly under Peter's command for the night in case something bad would happen. They were most likely drunk and playing card games.

The laughter stopped as soon as Peter entered the room, all eyes on him.

“Continue,” he mumbled, scanning the room for a screen. As fast as he could he grabbed the nearest one and fled.

Once he had left the room the guys started to talk again.

Only once before had Peter felt that alone in his life, and that was in the moment after his whole life got destroyed by the death of his mom, when his grandfather brought him out into the hall and left him there all by himself.

And, now, he felt unwanted once again. Once again the people who were supposed to be his family didn't want him.

Slowly, he made his way to the bridge. Someone had to watch if the autopilot was still working. And, since no one else was there, Peter was able to do his research in peace, all alone.

Peter sat down in the captain's chair and threw his legs over the nearest console. He activated the voice recognition and placed the screen on his legs. It was easier for him to eat his Gamora-soup when he could use both of his hands.

He gave the computer the commands to gain access to the criminal databases. It wasn’t legal to have access to them, but since when did Ravagers care about that kind of thing? They needed them.

Peter was sure he would find Gamora and the others there. After all, they all had a criminal record or they would never even had ended up in the Kyln where they had met Drax. At least the computer’s voice was still the same old raspy voice as it has always been.

“Computer, give me all the information you find on Gamora.”

“There is no information on ‘Gamora’ to be found,” the voice answered almost immediately.

“Huh? It’s spelled G-A-M-O-R-A.”

“There is no information to be found.”

Maybe Gamora really was a nun. Or maybe by some weird shenanigans she was still a child, training under Thanos. Maybe it was for Peter to save her in this universe.

“Search for Thanos. What’s the Mad Titan up to?” On their flight to Knowhere Rocket had told him quite a bit about Thanos and Gamora. Unlike Peter, he knew about this stuff.

“There is no information on ‘Thanos’ to be found,” the voice answered once again.

“Suck my balls!” Peter exclaimed.

“Command not recognized,” the computer's monotone voice replied.

“So Gamora’s a nun and Thanos is a farmer or something,” Peter mumbled to himself.

If he had to take a guess, he’d say that Ronan’s alliance with Thanos hadn’t been the way Ronan wanted it to be. Thanos had probably really pissed Ronan off, so when he remade the universe he decided against including the Mad Titan. By doing this Ronan had probably saved billions of lives. But, that didn’t make up for the billions of lives he had destroyed.

Speaking of destroying… “Search for ‘Drax the Destroyer’.”

“There is no information to be found.” This seemed to be the computer’s favorite phrase. But, Peter was happy to hear it this time. If there were no information on Drax, that meant that Ronan had never destroyed Drax’s people and he still lived happily with his wife and daughter on his planet. He would see his daughter grow up.

On the thought of this Peter had to smile. He couldn’t imagine the gray brute as a loving family father, but this was exactly what he was in this universe. A happy father.

Now, he had to look up if there was something to find on both Rocket and Groot. He tried Groot first, Peter was sure there was a lot of information to be found if he just searched for the word “rocket”. He knew the raccoon only called himself Rocket and had a number as his real “name,” but Peter didn’t know the number. So maybe he was able to find Rocket by looking for Groot first.

Finally, his search was fruitful. There was an existing criminal record for Groot. According to this, he was sitting in a prison on Hala right now, but unfortunately, he and Rocket were no associates in this universe. Or maybe they were and the records just didn’t show it.

So, Peter had no way of finding Rocket.

Thanks, Ronan! Thank you so much.

The search had brought Peter nothing.

He sighed deeply. “Computer, go to the normal search and tell me what you can find about ‘Ronan the Accuser’. Whole galaxy search.”

“Searching…”

This would take a while. There was so much to find. It looked like Ronan had made himself the most important Kree ever. Peter had just taken another spoon full of his soup and the list had already over five-thousand data sets.

Two spoons of soup later, he gave the command to end the search. There were already more data sets than Peter would ever be able to read in the rest of his life. He opened the first quite informative looking one and started to read.


	4. The power of a god

Ronan sat in his chair at the High Council of the Kree Empire.

He was so bored. He had lived in the new reality he had created for almost two weeks now. Everything was the way he wanted it. Xandar didn’t exist anymore; Thanos didn’t exist either. The Kree were the ruling force in this part of the galaxy.

Hala was finally at peace. Real peace, not the forced peace that came with the treaty by the Nova.

His father and forefathers had never died in the war. Thousands of soldiers had never died in the war. Thousands of families were still united and happy, all thanks to Ronan.

Everything was the way it’s supposed to be.

His government was finally the proud and unforgiving government it was supposed to be, not a bunch of weak and shameful politicians.

Then why did he feel so uneasy?

He had the feeling that he had missed something.

Impatiently he drummed his fingers on his armrest.

“Lord Ronan?” one of his fellow Kree asked. He was one of the countless Kree who had fallen in the other reality.

“It’s nothing,” Ronan replied. “Continue.”

The Kree gave a short nod. “As I’ve said already, the experiments on the higher life forms of Kli’Ton have shown—” he continued while Ronan’s mind started to drift off again.

He didn’t know why the Emperor had requested him, the Supreme Accuser, to participate in a meeting on genetic engineering. It wasn’t his subject, he was a man of laws and war.

The only genetic engineering that he was interested in was that which he had received at a younger age, when he had volunteered to have his genes mixed with those of a dead Celestial being the Kree had found in the ruins of an ancient planet. He and many other young Kree undertook the surgery. Ronan was the only one to survive.

Maybe this was the reason why he was able to hold and control the Infinity Stone without having to fear death. He had checked in with the medics only yesterday. He was in excellent condition, even better than he ever had been before.

_Thank you, Infinity Stone._

With the power of the Infinity Stone, Ronan was a god, working only for the sake of his own people, even if they didn’t know it.

Not a single one of them knew that Ronan winced every time he looked into a mirror because these red eyes with the black sclera were not the eyes he was used to seeing. Except now, they were his and he couldn’t change them without giving up the Infinity Stone. But he wouldn’t do that.

He had to protect Hala.

 

The meeting was finally over. It had taken until dawn, apparently, scientists loved to discuss every detail of everything.

It had been so boring.

At one point Ronan had almost fallen asleep.

Slowly he followed the scientists towards the door, but was interrupted.

“Lord Ronan, if you'd please linger one minute further. I have something to discuss with you,” the Emperor said.

The Emperor of the Kree was tall for a Kree, even taller than Ronan. He had an oval face, a long, straight nose, beautiful, sharp lips, and dark purple, unforgiving eyes. Sometimes, in the right light, it almost seemed as if his eyes were blue. Like every other aristocratic Kree, his skin was a light gray-blue. His face was marked with two black stripes flowing from his chin, over his eyes, and heading down to his spine. The skin over and under his eyes was adorned with sharp spikes. More often than not, Ronan asked himself how far down the markings went.

As part of the royal family, he was one of the few Kree wearing white robes decorated with the deep red symbol of Hala and the Kree. According to the traditions of the Kree, an individual was only allowed to wear certain colors if they were part of that respective class or profession. The royal family wore white, priests wore green, diplomats, politicians and the Elders wore red, andscientists wore brown. Both warriors and civilians wore dark colors, occasionally speckled with red.

Even if they hadn’t shared the same opinion about the peace treaty, the Emperor had never even once condemned Ronan’s actions. When Ronan remade the universe, he had considered this and left the Emperor the way he was. After all, he was a highly skilled Kree who had only received the best training from the day he was born. When Ronan was younger, before he received his genetic enhancement, he had the honor to train with him. Ronan was the best warrior of his class, and still, he had lost, even though the Emperor was twelve years younger than him.

“Of course, my lord,” Ronan answered and bowed slightly.

“You're probably asking yourself why I have requested your presence at today's meeting.”

“Of course, you're right.”

“Walk with me.”

Ronan raised his brows. “My lord?”

But the Emperor was already leaving the room, making his way towards the gardens.

Ronan followed him, walking at a formal distance behind him. To show their respect, Kree who were not the immediate royal family always had to walk one meter behind the Emperor.

The gardens were constructed by the Emperor five generations ago. He had been unusually peaceful for a Kree and enjoyed gardening more than fighting. But, this was acceptable, his generation was one of the few without a major war going on. Instead, he concentrated on improving the cities and living standards. His own personal project was the royal garden. He imported thousands of plants, hoping they would find soil.

It had paid off. The Emperor’s garden was the most beautiful garden in the whole empire, but few were allowed to visit. This was the first time Ronan was allowed to visit it, and for years now, he was one of the most important men in the empire.

There was a path going through the whole garden and Ronan and the Emperor followed it at a slow, but steady, pace. The beginning of the path was overshadowed by a huge pergola with yellow and white flowers. It looked lovely in the dark green light of the evening.

Ronan found himself looking at the flowers for a moment — imagining himself with a lover on his arm, strolling through the garden, kissing on the small bridge next to red and blue-green bushes. But, now was not the time for fantasies.

The Emperor headed to a waterfall in the shadow of a tall tree. “You're one of the highest ranking men in my empire, Ronan.”

“This is right, my Lord.”

“You're allowed to come closer.”

Ronan nodded slowly and came closer to the Emperor.

“Why aren't you married, Ronan?”

Oh, so it was going to be one of _these_ talks. Ronan started to pout slightly, remembering the fantasy with his faceless lover upon entering the garden. “There are many Kree interested in marriage, my lord, but I've always rejected these propositions. When I was a young Accuser, I wanted to focus on my career. I wasn't ready to start a family of my own. And, now, I don't have the time to consider these propositions.”

“I understand. It is fortuitous that you remain unwed. _”_

“My lord?”

“As I've said, you're one of the highest ranking men in the empire. You're also a distant cousin of mine,” the Emperor said to clear up Ronan's confusion. “Our empire is strong, but it will always be stronger if we form the right bonds with the right allies. One of the strongest of these bonds is a marriage. I intend to marry you to the princess of the Spartax. The king of Spartax doesn't have a male heir. Her future husband would rule the kingdom. I think it would be a good opportunity for you, to start your own family and to strengthen the bonds between Spartax and Hala. What do you say?”

Ronan said nothing. He didn't want to marry a princess of Spartax, even if he'd be their king one day. He wanted to serve Hala directly. He wanted to refuse. He had to refuse!

But he couldn't refuse the Emperor. His word was law. He knew what was best for the Kree. He…

He didn't have the power of an Infinity Stone. He couldn't marry Ronan off to Spartax if Spartax didn't exist.

Once again Ronan closed his eyes.

Everything went white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what I imagine the Kree Emperor to look like:  
> 


	5. Bots and plans

Someone shook Peter's shoulder. Slowly he opened his eyes.

“You're finally awake,” a soft voice said. “Good. Your guardian has already paid for my services, but he didn't mention that you'd fall asleep. Unfortunately, he has only booked me for one hour, so I had to wake you up. Please get clothed immediately. If you decide otherwise and want to extend your visit, you can pay for another hour on the device on the table.”

Tired, Peter rubbed his eyes. Since when did he fall asleep after having sex? “No, it's fine,” a strange voice answered the blue haired Love Bot when he opened his mouth. “... What's wrong with my voice?”

“Your voice sounds exactly the way it sounded when you entered the room.”

“Huh, weird.” His voice had never been that high. Only when he had been a child, but never since he had hit puberty. Peter sat up and… hair fell into his face. “What the…” He combed the hair with one hand out of his face. It was quite long. Since when– “Oh no, not again…” Peter mumbled. He had glanced down on his body. His body had changed. He was smaller and slimmer, he had boobs, and, most importantly, he didn't have a dick anymore.

“I do not understand,” the Love Bot said patiently.

“Did I look the whole time like this?”

“Yes, you did.”

“What's my name?”

“Your name's Peta Quill, but you wanted me to call you Star-Lord.”

“Where are my clothes?”

“I've advised you to lay them onto the chair.”

Apparently, he had followed the advice; a bunch of cloths lay on the chair. Peter left the bed and inspected them. “Was the sex good?”

“The sex was very good. You're by far the most astounding being I've ever shared the bed with.”

“What did I expect?” Peter mumbled to himself as he took his panties. They were boring and grey. If he was a woman in this universe he could at least wear nice underwear. He was going to change this when he was back on his ship.

The Love Bot smiled knowingly at Peter's comment.

“Didn't I wear a bra or something?”

“You did not.”

“That's why I can't find one!”

Peter got dressed and wondered what had happened. Ronan still was the owner of the Infinity Stone. But why had he changed reality again? Had his wife cheated on him? No, this would have no effect on Peter. Something had probably happened to Hala – and big ol’ Ronan had gotten lazy these days – so he had just wished the thing out of existence. Ronan had likely affected the balance of the cosmos, so much so that even a normal guy like Peter had to change because of it – by changing his sex. Oh well, worse things could have happened.

“Are you satisfied with your services?” the Love Bot interrupted Peter's flow of thought.

“Yes, yes, very satisfied.” He had found a band for his hair and put it into a lazy bun. Long hair was annoying as hell. Once, when he was younger, he had refused to get his hair cut by any of the other Ravagers, so he had quite the history with longer hair. Though, even he had to admit it had never been _that_ long.

Quietly, the Love Bot turned herself off.

Peter looked at her for a moment. He was quite curious to know what exactly they had done in the bedroom together. His legs were still wobbly and he could feel the afterglow of an orgasm, so it had to be pretty good. But, he was curious about the details.

Well, maybe he was going to find out later. Maybe he wasn't. Maybe he would have sex in this body again. It all depended on Ronan and his vacillating mood to change the universe.

“If he continues to do stuff like that, he's going to destroy the whole universe,” Peter mumbled as he passed by the doors on his way down. “Someone should do something about that. Maybe I should try to find Groot and Rocket again. Maybe, maybe.”

Peter still thought of a plan as he left the building, getting hit by a wave of cold. Why hadn't he brought a scarf?! Had his female self played so hard that she'd rather freeze to death than to admit weakness?

“Quill.”

He closed his jacket and put up his collar to get at least a little bit more of warmth. Where had he parked his ship? Hell, why didn't he get the memories of the the being he became? Why did he have to keep only his own memories?

“Quill.”

It would be so much more useful. It–

A strong hand grabbed his shoulder. “I'm talking to ya, girl.”

Peter turned around and looked right at Yondu's familiar face. Since he was shorter now, he had to look up to him a bit. Oh, Yondu loved that, he bet, his lil’ thief having to look up to him forever and ever.

Peter smiled softly. At least Yondu was still the same old grumpy bastard and not some washed out female version of himself. Though, Peter had to admit the thought of an all female Ravager clan was quite interesting. Maybe there was something like this out there. Maybe he shouldn't stop Ronan and should join them instead.

“I'm not a– what happened to your crest?” Peter's eyes widened. Instead of the short implant on his head, this Yondu had a real fin. A real, natural Centaurian fin, standing strong and proud.

“Nothing has happened. It's the way it's supposed to be. Where’re ya going?”

“To my ship,” Peter answered.

“Your head's not only pretty, use it. We didn't come here with your ship.”

“Oh. Then, how did we come here? And, can we go now?”

“Ah, you had your fun and now it's time to go. That's the Peta I know. No. We still have business here.”

Peter raised a brow. “We have business here? Who isn't finished yet?”

“Did ya forget everything? Narblik, Schauf, and Andes-Bru. Have a drink.” He shoved Peter softly into a bar, forced him to sit down at a table, and ordered the Bot at the bar to bring them two drinks.

“Do me a favour?”

“I don't do favours, girl.”

Good, old Yondu. Always the same greedy captain. “Can you call me Peter instead of Peta?”

Yondu grunted displeased. “Why, that sounds like the same weird Terran name to me.”

“No, it's not. It's Pet _er_ , not Pet _a_. Peter's harder at the end.”

“Sure, kid. It's time for you to finally become hard.” He raised his glass. “To the hard-ass Star-Lord.”

“Haha. Very funny.” He bumped his glass against Yondu’s. “Remind me again, why did you pay me a Bot?

“Ya can't get preggy if ya do the nookie with a Bot.”

“What the hell, Yondu!”

“A Ravager ship is no place for a child,” he answered sternly. “I’d have to kick you out. And, you're my best underling.”

Peter decided to ignore the comment about a Ravager ship being no place for a child. He knew this by heart. “I can't get pregnant, I'm a man!”

“Since when?”

“Since always!”

“So that's where the sudden change of name comes by. Sure, son. You still have the reproductive organs, though. _You_ can get pregnant, even if you're a man. Let's not provoke it.” He patted Peter's arm and took a deep sip out of his glass. “Even if yer a man, do me a favour. Stay the way you are and don't start to behave like my other men.”

“Why would I do that? And why do I have to do favours if you don't have to!”

Yondu grinned and showed his golden teeth. They were still the same. Apparently it was really only his crest that had changed. “I'm your captain. I don't have to explain myself. Just follow my orders.”

Peter rolled his eyes. Yondu was as exhausting as he always had been. He took a deep sip out of his glass and started to cough immediately. His drink was spicy and almost burned his throat.

“Even as a man, your taste’s still shit.” He patted Peter's back. “Ya can't stand the good things.”

“My taste’s very good,” Peter managed to choke out between two coughs.

“You're too weak for spices.”

“Hmpf.” Peter huffed. He tried his drink again, this time he only sipped at it. It was okay that way. “Why’re we here again?”

“Y’all did a good job. Sex keeps the motivation high.”

“Yeah, but why did _you_ pay?”

“What, ya think I paid for those brainless idiots? I’ve only paid for your Bot. Ya did most of the work during this job, ya made me a bunch of money, ya deserve this one. And, it’s our anniversary in a few days.”

“... Anniversary?” Peter expected the worst.

“Of the day I’ve picked you up, idiot.”

Oh! Yes, Peter really was an idiot. But, how should he know the date? He was in this new reality for what, 20 minutes? Too, he had never been the best with dates since he got abducted. Most of the time he even forgot his own birthday. But, that didn’t matter since he didn’t get any presents regardlessly. He took another sip of his drink. “We’re heading back to the _Eclector_ when we’re done here?”

“Do you have other plans?”

“I’m going to singlehandedly destroy the Kree Empire.”

Yondu started to laugh and clapped Peter on the back so hard that he almost spilled his drink. “Good one!”

“Yeah, that totally was a joke,” Peter mumbled into his drink. “A joke and nothing more...”

“What, boy? You really wanna destroy the whole Kree Empire?” Apparently with his new fin Yondu had also gotten a pair of better working ears.

“Nah, not the whole Empire. Just one Kree.”

“Why that?”

“He stole something from me.”

“Since when do Kree steal?”

“This one did! Kinda. If you want to call it that.”

“What is it and who took it?” Yondu looked as if he was ready to singlehandedly hunt down any Kree that had hurt Peter.

“Ronan the Accuser. He has stolen my life and my friends.”

Yondu’s eyes widened and he got quiet.

Peter wasn’t in the mood to say anything further.

Two men came in, and sat down, back-to-back with Peter and Yondu. They were unpleasantly close. Peter could smell the scent of sex on them way too well.

“Which Bot did ya get?” the first guy asked.

“Numba 5385. Ya’re winning, I think,” the other answered.

“Yeah. Got numba 4239.”

“Shit. Drinks on me.”

This was a common game on Contraxia. Since there were many bots, there had to be a way to keep them apart. Of course, they didn’t all look the same, but the producer of the Love Bots had found an easier way: They had imprinted a number on the back of the neck of the Bots. And the men who visited the planet had found another use for these numbers: Whoever got to share a room with the Bot who had the highest number had to pay for the drinks.

The guy who had lost the bet had long tentacles as hair. As he stood up to get their drinks, he used them to stroke through Peter’s hair.

Peter winced which brought Yondu out of his shock. Both their eyes followed the guy to the bar. “Want me to kill ‘im for ya?”

“No, it’s fine,” Peter replied. This wasn’t the first time he had to deal with stuff like that. He could just ignore it.

“Sure, kid?”

“Yeah.”

“So, about your situation with the Kree… I advise against it. Ya can’t just invade Hala. Not as a single person, not even with an army.

“I know.”

“End of topic.”

“Yeah.” Peter took another sip of his drink. He didn’t have to invade Hala, not if he took care and was sneaky. A single person in a small ship wouldn’t attract that much attention, right? There were always foreign visitors and diplomats on these big planets. Peter could say he was one of them. What could possibly go wrong?

 

After his visit to Contraxia, Peter had spent over two weeks on the _Eclector_ without getting an assignment from Yondu. He wasn’t first mate in this universe, so he didn’t even have to take care of that stuff which could be used as an excuse for not having an assignment.

No, Peter  simply sat around, idle, and listened to his music all day. Most of the time, he was in his room. _His_ room! He had his own room in this universe! He didn’t have to sleep in the cuddle pile next to all the other smelly guys who would probably just grab his boobs while he was trying to sleep. Or worse!

After three idle days Peter had tried to leave the _Eclector_ and fly to a planet to spend some time there. But, no, Yondu didn’t allow him to leave.

“Something could come up,” he had said.

Nothing of importance came up.

The only thing that had was  Peter’s period starting. The first two days had been worse than anything Peter had ever had to live through. Peter wanted to die constantly and Doc didn’t want to give him any painkillers, until he had held his gun against Doc’s nose.

Living in this body was hard. He did look nice, though – especially his boobs. If he would have met himself in the middle of the street, he would have hit on himself.

But, after his period had ended, everything was fine again.

Now, Peter’s head was clear enough to make a new plan. He would try it again and sneak out, this time at night. He had already made the perfect plan and told no one; he hadn’t even accidentally tipped-off Yondu. Truth was, he hadn’t spoken to Yondu since yesterday.

Peter had done another thing: once again he had searched for his friends. Gamora was still a nun or something and Drax was still living with his family, but, this time, Peter had successfully found Rocket and Groot!

They were together in a prison right now.

A Kree prison.

A Kree prison on Lamentis.

At least it wasn’t on Hala.

Peter’s plan was to go to Lamentis, hope that Rocket and Groot hadn’t broken out on their own, and somehow free them. After this, they would be grateful for Peter freeing them, and would help him to get the Stone from Ronan and kill him. A good and solid plan. The plan to get the Stone would follow as soon as he was with them on the _Milano_.

Breaking into a Kree prison couldn’t be harder than breaking out of the Kyln.

Deep in the night, Peter left his room. He had checked out his ship some days earlier. He had enough clothes there – even nice underwear – so he didn’t have to pack a pack. Instead, he was able to just grab his walkman and a cloak and go to the hanger.

His plan payed off.

Without any disturbances, he went through the quiet ship. Of course, it was never really quiet on the _Eclector_ _–_ she wasn’t built that way. Ravagers liked to feel their ships. If they were on a ship wherein the machines were totally quiet, they thought something was wrong. They wanted to hear the engine, they wanted to feel the vibrations, they wanted to smell it. All this had become white noise to Peter throughout the years, even if it had taken him quite a while to get used to it. It was the same as sleeping on a big cuddle pile with a bunch of smelling, snoring, farting and drooling Ravagers – at one point you start to ignore it and sleep.

It didn’t take Peter too long to prepare the hangar so he could leave with his ship.

“Home, sweet home,” he mumbled to himself. Without looking around, Peter went straight up into the cockpit and started the ship. He hadn’t even bothered to turn on the lights.

Only when he had left the _Eclector_ and entered the coordinates for Lamentis, did Peter allow himself to take a deep breath and relax. It had worked! He had been able to leave Yondu without him noticing! In the morning, when he realized Peter wasn’t there anymore, it would be too late!

“Where do ya think yer goin’, son?” a gruff voice unexpectedly whispered in his ear.


	6. In and out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a new chapter!

Peter had the perfect plan. He would fly to Lamentis,  grab Rocket and Groot,  and convince them to help him deal with Ronan. They would fly to Hala, and they would kill him. After that, they would have the power of the Infinity Stone and they could... Could they do anything? Would they be able to survive the Stone, like Ronan, or would they instantly die like Carina, the Collector’s employee?

Maybe Peter was different. Maybe Peter was able to hold the Stone and remake the universe. Maybe this was the reason why he was able to remember the other universes. He had talked to Yondu about his dad, but he had never mentioned what his father was. He had to be something really powerful, or else Peter would have been like anyone else, forgetful of what had been.

But now, this wasn’t going to happen since Peter wasn’t able to go to Lamentis anymore. Yondu was on his ship, standing right behind him, hands rested on his shoulders. Peter had no idea when Yondu had entered the _Milano_ or why. Was he always sleeping there, prepared for Peter to run away? Was it instinctual to be on the _Milano_ at exactly the right time? Or, had Peter accidentally given someone hints about running away?

“I can’t stay on the _Eclector_ all day long, I have to go somewhere.”

“What for?” Yondu huffed. “Your amusement? Play some games with the boys! Go, talk to some nice gals online.”

“I don’t want to do that! That stuff’s boring!”

“It’s not boring; it’s a normal thing to do,” Yondu replied and hardened his grip on Peter’s shoulders.

“Fine! Then I’m boring! I don’t want to be boring anymore now! I want my friends back and I want to save the galaxy!”

“What friends? You ain’t got no friends, son.”

“Why do you always say that! I do have friends who aren’t Ravagers!”

“Since when?”

“Since I stopped being a Ravager, stole a job from you, got thrown into the Kyln, broke out with them and went with them to Knowhere!”

“Oh? And when the hell was that?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me, boy.” Yondu let go of Peter’s shoulders and made himself comfortable in the co-pilot’s chair.

Peter started to recount his search for the Orb, the other universes, and everything that had happened. He also told him about his plan to break Groot and Rocket out, so they could help him.

“It’s a six-hour flight to Lamentis. Go to bed and get some sleep, yer gonna need it,” Yondu said after Peter had finished talking.

“You’re not telling me to turn around and go back to my room?”

“Boy, if I wasn’t able to hold ya back when you was the other you, the girl you, I can’t hold ya now. So, I’m coming with ya to make sure ya give them Kree the beatin’ they deserve.”

“Huh.”

“Now, move yer fat ass downstairs before I have to carry ya.”

Peter stood up. “Do you really think my ass is fat?”

“Nah. Yer ass is as flat as your chest.”

“...”

“You don’t eat enough, so you have no curves. That’s why ya need to hook up with a robot.”

“And, this is why you need to hook up with robots, you don’t know how to talk to women,” Peter commented. Even this wasn’t his original body and life, Yondu’s words hurt.

“You’re no woman and I’ve always talked to you that way.”

“That doesn’t make it any better!” Peter didn’t want to hear another word of Yondu body-shaming him, so he went downstairs and made his way into the bathroom.

He took off his clothes and took a closer look at himself in the mirror.

He really didn’t have much of a waist, and he had narrow hips, but Yondu could hardly blame him for this. This was just the way he was built. Maybe he didn’t have the biggest boobs but they fit perfectly into his hands and they looked really good. He had plenty of muscles but that came with the job and the way Yondu had trained him. Maybe he had a flat butt, but it looked good in pants, and he had really beautiful thighs. Other people would kill for such thighs!

Maybe Peter wasn’t the grand prize, but he wasn’t a consolation prize either.

Peter blew his image in the mirror a kiss. “Baby, you’re really hot, no matter what any old man might say. You can get anyone you want. You’re a sexy beast.” He winked at his reflection and stepped under the shower.

He always took a shower after he left the _Eclector_. He couldn’t explain why, but he always felt really dirty when he finally boarded his ship, more dirty than normal, so he had to shower before he went to bed.

 

“Fuck, Quill.”

“Good morning to you too, Yondu,” Peter answered still half asleep as he made his way to the toilet. He really needed to pee.

“Have some decency and put a shirt on!”

“Have some decency and don’t stare at my boobs.” Peter had been sleeping wearing only his underpants, as he always did when he was on the _Milano_.

Yondu turned away quickly. “I’m not staring!”

Peter yawned. “I’m a man, too. I would take a long look, you’d totally do it, too. Geez!”

Yondu mumbled something to himself and made his way into the kitchen as soon as Peter had closed the bathroom door.

He was still in the kitchen when Peter left the bathroom and went back to his bedroom to search for clothes. Peter could smell a tasty breakfast.

Dressed, he visited Yondu in the kitchen. “Only for you?”

“Nah, son. I made too much for myself. Ya can have a bite or two.” He put some green, scrambled eggs and some bacon on two plates and put them on the small table. Well, technically it wasn’t bacon since it wasn’t made from a Terran pig but some kind of space animal but to Peter it tasted the same. He had shown Yondu how to make eggs and bacon years ago and was happy to see that even his female counterpart had done the same thing.

During their breakfast, they discussed their plan to save Rocket and Groot.

Yondu had found the blueprints of the prison while Peter was asleep.

They decided to use the most violent way to free them. They would fly the _Milano_ straight to the front door of the prison, shooting everyone in sight. They would even shoot the door open. They’d leave the _Milano_ unprotected while they went inside, since Peter insisted on going himself, and Yondu insisted on not leaving Peter alone in a prison full of Kree and criminals. They had found out the exact cells where the Kree held Rocket and Groot. First, they’d go to Groot. Peter thought it was easier to convince him to join their cause than to convince Rocket first. With the convinced Groot, they’d make their way to Rocket, free and convince him, and fly off with the _Milano_.

The whole coup wouldn’t take longer than one hour; there was no way that the Kree could send reinforcements. The _Milano_ would be far away on her way to Hala and Ronan before they’d arrive.

After breakfast, they were so close to Lamentis that Yondu took over the pilot’s chair while Peter got ready for the break-out.

The airspace around the prison was empty, but, even from afar, Peter could see a lot of figures moving around. The closer he got, the better he could identify them as Kree soldiers and prison guards, forming a protective formation around the prison.

“What the…?”

“Looks like someone’s faster,” Yondu said. “They’re trying to keep someone from breaking out.”

“We’ll still go down. Go ready to shoot.”

“I’m gonna give them Kree what they deserve.”

“Yeah, they’re pretty big assholes.” Peter got the ship closer to the surface. “One tried to kill me, once.”

“What for?”

“I dated her but flirted with an A'askavarian to get information. Information for you!”

Yondu laughed and started to shoot at the Kree soldiers. They broke their formation. “Are you nuts? Dating a Kree girl!”

“I know! She almost ripped out my thorax!”

“Serves you right. Was it worth it? Did you enjoy having sex with the A'askavarian?”

For a short moment, Peter stared at Yondu in shock. “Who says I slept with her? She got tentacles! And do you know what kind of teeth they have?”

“Quill! Eyes to the front!”

“Holy shit!” Peter flew sharp to the right. By looking at Yondu, he had almost flown the _Milano_ into the prison! That would totally have blown their plans.

“What the hell, Quill!”

Peter brought them back to their path to kill Kree. “I don’t know!”

“Concentrate!”

“How can I concentrate when you accuse me of sleeping with an A'askavarian!”

“I accuse you because I’ve known you since you was 8 years old.”

“You don’t know me, old man. You know Peta since she was 8 years old!”

“Same thing.”

“It’s not!”

“Concentrate!”

“Why! I’m flying like I’m supposed to.”

“I don’t want us to almost explode again.”

“We’re not— ugh! Careful now, look at the Kree.”

Some of them had entered their vehicles. Peter hadn’t seen any need to destroy them before because he had thought that they were just for transportation, but, he was wrong. The Kree had brought some big weapons out of them, big enough to seriously damage his ship.

He flew several loops around them, too fast for them to aim but at a speed that Yondu was able to shoot them.

Peter’s eyes scanned the surroundings. No Kree was to be seen anymore. Time to break in. He flew to the door and Yondu shot it until it broke down. Peter came to stop by turning the ship 180° around right in front the door.

“You flew okay,” Yondu said as they left the ship.

“Okay?”

“Yes, okay. I’da done it better.”

Peter huffed. “Shut up. Which way?”

“Follow me.” Yondu ran inside.

Peter followed him through the hallways. Without Yondu, he would have been lost.

There were Kree in the halls, not as many as there had been outside, but quite a lot. Since Yondu and his whistling arrow were faster than Peter and his blasters, Yondu did almost all the killing. He really seemed to enjoy it.

Peter understood how Yondu felt. If he had been a slave of the Kree, he’d probably enjoy killing them, too. He thought how he’d feel about killing all the Ravagers who’d done him bad when he was still a child. Would he kill them too, if he had the chance? No, probably not. Even if he hated them for what they had done to him, they were his family. The only family he still had.

“This way, boy!” They ran around a corner and… Right into Rocket and Groot!

Peter, who had run into Groot, and Rocket, who had run into Yondu, both fell down.

“What the…!” Rocket got back up to his feet immediately and pointed his gun, first at Yondu, then at Peter. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Rocket!” Peter said happily.

Rocket narrowed his eyes. “How do you know my name?”

“Long story, we’re here to break you out.”

“We don’t need your help.”

“Obviously. But, you do need a ride!” Peter got up and smiled at Rocket.

“I don’t trust you, humie. What do you want?” He poked his gun into Peter’s stomach.

Yondu groaned. “Can we talk about this later? Them Kree are coming and we don’t wanna be here then.”

“Fine!” Rocket climbed onto Groot’s shoulder. “Let’s go!”

Peter and Yondu turned around and they all started to run. When he looked over his shoulder, Peter noticed the approaching Kree, but Yondu’s arrow was faster than them. They were dead before they could realize it.

Groot eyed Peter and Yondu with interest.

“Hey, Groot.”

“I am Groot?” Groot asked with big eyes.

“No, sorry, I have no idea what you’re saying. I’m Peter Quill! You can also call me Star-Lord!”

“I am Groot.”

“Don’t talk to them, idiot!” Rocket said.

“I am Groot!”

“Tch. Whatever.”

“What did he say?” Peter asked.

“None of your concern.”

“Fiiiine!”

The _Milano_ was still standing where they had left her. Fortunately, no new Kree had arrived, yet. But, Peter could already see them advancing, it wouldn’t take them more than 10 minutes to arrive.

They made their way right into the cockpit. Peter and Yondu sat down at the two front seats while Rocket took the chair in the middle. Groot took one of the two chairs in the back.

As soon as they were back in outer space, Rocket wanted some answers. “Now, explain yourself. How do you know us?”

“Alternative reality,” Peter answered. “We met because Yondu here put a bounty on my head because I stole an artifact from him. You two needed money, so you attacked me right in the middle of Xandar.”

“What’s a Xandar?”

“A planet that doesn’t exist in this reality. Point is, we ended up in the Kyln together, along with Gamora, a gal who attacked me at the same time. The Kyln was like this big interstellar prison for the worst of the worst. There, we met Drax and we all broke out of the Kyln the next day to sell the Orb, the artifact I had stolen, to someone Gamora knew. For four billion units! So, then we flew to Knowhere — Does Knowhere still exist?”

“Yeah. And ya should’ve never gone there,” Yondu answered, as he started to clean his teeth with a little stick he had conjured out of the depths of his cloak.

“Get to your point. I’m still not convinced,” Rocket said.

“We tried to sell the Orb to the Collector who showed us that it contained an Infinity Stone. But before he gave us the money, the Collector’s servant-”

“I’m pretty sure they’re slaves,” Yondu added.

“Whatever. She grabbed the Stone. I’m not sure what happened then. It was as if everything vibrated for a moment, and I mean everything, every little cell in your body, and then she exploded. And, I mean a really big explosion. The whole museum exploded. No idea why, since this is the Reality Stone. So, we grabbed the Orb and got the hell out of there. Gamora wanted to give it to the Nova Corps so they could take care of it. Well, that didn’t happen, because Ronan the Accuser and Gamora’s sister came. They wanted the Stone for Gamora’s dad, who’s a pretty bad crime boss in this universe,and they got the Stone. But, instead of giving it to Thanos, Ronan kept it for himself and remade the universe without Xandar and Thanos. But, later he did that again, and now I’m asking myself, when will he stop?”

Peter took a deep breath to talk more about his heroic intentions but Rocket kept him from talking about it.

“Pretty sure you just made that up,” Rocket said. “Why can you remember this stuff, but I can’t?”

“I have no idea,” Peter admitted. “Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I’m only half Terran.”

“What’s the other half?”

“No idea. Yondu?”

“I won’t tell ya. Ya’d just go looking for him.”

“I won’t.”

“Will.”

“Won’t.”

“Will.”

“Won’t.”

“Shut up, you two,” Rocket threw in. “What are you, married?”

Yondu made a grimace.

“Ew, no,” Peter said.

“Good. Now tell me, why do you need me?”

“I’m going to Hala and I want to kill Ronan. Or else one day he’ll destroy the whole universe.”

“So what? Before that happens, I’m long dead. Why should I go to Hala right after I’ve broken out of a Kree prison and walk straight into the hands of the fucking Supreme Accuser?”

“You’re gonna be a hero.”

“Do I look like I wanna be a hero?”

“No, you’re right.” Peter laughed softly. “Ronan has a pretty huge bounty on his head in my reality. When it’s restored we collect it and you get half of it.”

Groot moaned in the background.

“One-third.”

“How huge?”

“Not sure. He’s a criminal who acted against a peace treaty. He is a pretty big deal as Accuser. I think it’s quite big.”

“Fine. You’ve got a deal.”


	7. On the road

Yondu snored so loudly, Peter bet he could be heard clear across the galaxy all the way to Hala.

_“How did you know we would land here?” they would ask as they left the Milano, on Hala, arms over their heads._

_“We heard the snoring,” the Kree would answer. “It's part of our planetary defense system to be able to identify the snores of all stolen slaves, so we can easily bring them back to their old masters. Yondu’s snores were so intense, it was the easiest to identify them and track them back to your attack on the prison of Lamentis. You're all hereby sentenced to death.”_

Yondu’s snores were so loud Peter totally expected them to break the laws of physics — the “no sound in space" situation — just to annoy Peter, cross his plans, and bring him back to the _Eclector_.

_“Thanks, Capt’n,” Tullk would say. “I knew it was a good idea not to teach the lad the secret snore code of the Ravagers. It paid off.”_

_“I'm surprised, myself,” Yondu would answer. “Normally, he picks up every useless skill. Why not this? Oh, and I brought dinner. It's time for some nice roasted raccoon, boys!”_

Yondu had gone to bed as soon as they were safely away from Lamentis, and hadn't woken up since. It was only natural, Peter thought. After all, Yondu hadn't slept that night. He couldn’t even keep his eyes open through their little break on a spaceport where Peter, Rocket, and Groot collected materials to build weapons to invade Hala.

Rocket was even more annoyed by the snoring than Peter. He constantly complained while building himself a weapon.

Peter sat next to him on a chair, eating sweets, while Groot was upstairs in the cockpit, keeping an eye on the autopilot. A duet of Yondu’s snores and “Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum was quietly playing in the background.

“Don’t you have anything else to do than to stare at me, humie?”

“No, I don’t,” Peter answered. “Want some?” He held the plastic bag of the sweets towards Rocket.

Rocket hardly paid it a look. “No. I don’t like that stuff. Gets everywhere and stays there for weeks.”

“Alright. More for me.”

“How did a gal like you end up with the Ravagers? As far as I can distinguish you humanoids, you look fairly normal. Not like the other Ravagers. And you smell as if you take a shower regularly.”

“Oh, the other Ravagers also shower regularly. Like once every month.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Yondu abducted me when I was a child. He had always said to me it was because he and his boys were hungry and they never tasted Terran before. But, I found out in a talk with the Yondu in the last reality that he abducted me because my dad paid him to. And then he kept me because I was small and good for thieving. He taught me everything he knows.”

“And your old man never showed up to get you from Yondu?”

“Obviously not. Or maybe he did and Yondu told him I died and he didn’t care anymore. Whatever.”

Rocket snarled. “I hope you don’t expect me to tell you my backstory now, just because you told me yours.”

Peter waved his hand. “No need to. I already know. You told it to everyone when you were drunk on Knowhere. And I saw you naked before that-”

“When did this happen?” Rocket interrupted.

“The Kyln. How did you and Groot end up in the prison on Lamentis?”

“I was framed. They picked me up because of some minor stuff. But, since they’re Kree they’re always so extreme and throw you into the slammer instantly to execute you later. I don’t know what they picked Groot up for. He didn’t tell me. I only just met him there.”

“Oh, so your friendship’s still young and blooming, how cute.” Peter grinned.

“I’ll give you a blooming black eye if you don’t stop saying weird stuff like that.”

Peter’s grin widened.

“What’s up with that weird music?” Rocket asked.

“It’s from Terra. I had it with me the day Yondu abducted me.”

“So, it’s simply sentimental.”

“They’re nice songs.”

“Meeeeh.”

“They are!”

“I’m not saying anything you’ll hold against me.”

“I won’t— okay, maybe I will. But, it’s really not that bad! You’d realize when you listen more to it.”

“Do I have to?”

“As long as you’re on my ship, yes.”

“I don’t plan to stay with you one minute longer than I have to. But, if everything goes by plan, I don’t have to. I’m going to be my other universe me and you’ll give me a bunch of money. Speaking of ‘plan’. What is our plan?”

“Yes. That’s the question here,” Peter said slowly.

“You don’t have a plan.”

“I have an idea of a plan.”

“Which is..?”

“We go to Hala, we kick everyone's butts, we go and find Ronan and force him to make the universe the way it was.”

Rocket started to laugh. “That’s the worst idea of a plan I’ve ever heard.”

“I know! It’s bad! But that’s one of the reasons why we wanted to free you from the Kree. So you can help us to come up with a better plan.”

“What’s the other reason?”

“I like you, and we need more firearms.”

Rocket turned around and faced Peter. “So you have no idea what to do and want me to do all your dirty work.”

“Basically.”

Rocket sighed. “Groot! Come down here! We need a plan!”

“I am Groot?”

“I know that you don’t have a plan, idiot! Stop the ship! We can’t go to Hala without a plan! And Mr. Galaxy Saver here doesn’t have one. So it’s up to us to save the galaxy for him.”

“I am Groot.” Groot stopped the ship's engines and came down to Peter and Rocket. He sat down on the floor next to Rocket. “I am Groot.”

Groot, Peter, and Rocket started a wild discussion about their plan. It was hard for them to come to a consensus. It was even harder for a plan to form when Yondu finally woke up and joined them. He was, after all, the expert on the Kree and Hala, and rejected three different plans instantly.

But, even it took them long, eventually, they came up with a plan and made their way to Hala, ready to “fuck shit up”, as Rocket had stated.


End file.
